What Bob Dylan Song Would You Share with the Universe?

WHAT BOB DYLAN SONG WOULD YOU SHARE WITH THE UNIVERSE?

“Inside the museums, infinity goes up on trial.”

Bob Dylan first sang that on 1966’s “Visions of Johanna.” And now it’s being put to the test, as Tulsa opens the Bob Dylan Center (www.bobdylancenter.com) – a part archive, part exhibit space that unlocks the creative spirit of the singer/artist/filmmaker/writer still going in his ninth decade. One result of it is that the Dylan world is now booking tickets to Oklahoma.

The recent Gallery America goes into the Bob Dylan Center, two doors down from the Woody Guthrie Center (woodyguthriecenter.org) in the Tulsa Arts District, and speaks with a host of international Dylan biographers, writers and scholars sometimes dubbed “Dylanologists.” 

Their knowledge of Dylan’s music goes very deep, so we asked them what Dylan song – of the hundreds he’s written – would they send in a rocket ship to share with the universe. Tellingly, none of them had the same answer.  

Watch the results, and hear the songs below:

“Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)

Steven Jenkins, Director of Bob Dylan Center

“Every Grain of Sand” (1981)

Laura Tenschert, Definitely Dylan (DefinitelyDylan.com)

“Tangled Up in Blue” (1975)

Allison Rapp, UltimateClassicRock.Com (allisonrapp22.com)

“Key West (Philosopher Pirate)” (2020)

Anne Margaret Daniel, Professor at New School, NYC (annemargaretdaniel.com)

“A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” (1963)

Sean Latham, Director of Institute of Bob Dylan Studies (dylan.utulsa.edu)

 (Also see how differently “Hard Rain” came off when Dylan did it with Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust guitarist, Mick Ronson in 1975.https://youtu.be/iUD5snx-XOo)

“Tweeter and the Monkey Man” by the Traveling Wilburys (1988)

Clinton Heylin, Dylan Biographer

“Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie” (1963)

Mark Davidson, Archivist at Bob Dylan Center

“The Times They Are A-Changin’” (1964)

Mitch Blank, Hyptonist Collector (BobLinks.com)

(Mitch stops just short of putting this anthemic song into the rocket – noting that time itself is a relative concept. But we’re putting it here for you anyway.)

BONUS TRACK: “Simple Twist of Fate” (1975)

Robert Reid, Gallery America Producer/Host (instagram.com/oetagallery)

This whole wild idea – about asking for one Dylan recording to share with the universe – came when I was watching Martin Scorsese’s 2019 documentary Rolling Thunder Revue on Netflix. When the performance of this time-hopping, heart-breaker from 1975’s Blood on the Tracks appeared, Dylan appeared alone on stage – in face-paint and a wonderful hat with flowers – and ran through it, swapping between third and first person, and occasionally altering the chords on the chorus. It’s inexact, incomplete and perfectly gutting. And I just thought it’s the one performance I’d share with anyone who didn’t know who Dylan was. 
 

You can see it on Netflix (and all the performances are peak Dylan). Here’s the studio version. 

Hear more, in fact all, Bob Dylan songs on his official YouTube channel Bob Dylan - YouTube.

And be sure follow Gallery America online at oeta.tv/galleryamerica for daily updates of Oklahoma’s artists and art news!